ST. PAUL — Around 40 people rode a charter bus Thursday, March 5, down to St. Paul for the 19th annual Bemidji Day at the Minnesota State Capitol.
Officials from the city of Bemidji, Bemidji Area Schools and Beltrami County were joined by Bemidji Area Chamber of Commerce members and others, in signature red buffalo plaid, for a day of lobbying for issues that impact Northern Minnesota communities.
Bemidji’s city councilmember at large, Audrey Thayer, led a group of Leech Lake Tribal College students, all of whom had never been to the State Capitol before, to meet with lawmakers.
Student Candace Jones, who declined a plaid vest in favor of her ribbon skirt, advocated for housing issues, education resources and protections for wild rice.
“The quality and quantity of wildlife around the surrounding areas, the water, it plays a big part in wild rice as well,” she said.
After meeting with District 30 Republican state Sen. Eric Lucero, Jones said she gained new insight on some of the bureaucracy behind why many landlords, like Lucero, don’t accept Section 8 vouchers. Section 8 is a program administered by the federal Housing and Urban Development Department. It offers rental assistance to low-income families.
“I know why it's hard for when they [residents] do get approved for Section 8, now I understand, why they're not [finding housing],” she said.
Lucero works in realty in the exurbs near Albertville and said he can fill his units without taking on the added red tape of a Section 8 voucher.
“I don't accept it because it comes with a bunch of other mandates from the federal government that I'm just not willing to accept,” he said.
Chamber member Christie Turn, representing Paul Bunyan Communications, had also never participated in a Bemidji Day at the Capitol before.
“It's just so important for us to share our story of the county and the impacts and, you know, the sheer size of our county, the poverty of our county and how these government mandates impact that,” she said.
School Board member Jack Aakhus described how bills and formulas that go through the state Legislature, designed to be carried out by local governments and schools without any dollars attached, result in local revenue issues.
Bemidji Area Schools is trying to trim $3.5 million from its budget this spring to avoid a deficit. The Board is considering the closure of J.W. Smith Elementary amid community pushback, and several of its bargaining units are working without a contract.
"High poverty districts like ours usually receive extra funding through what's called compensatory aid. There was recently a change to the formula for that, which is costing our district almost $400,000. The requirement to provide summertime unemployment benefits to hourly employees, that's $600,000 a year. And thirdly, the transportation formula will cost our district almost $1 million a year,” Aakhus said.
“So that's just three, and those things alone could keep open J.W. Smith school and give our teachers a raise.”
Chamber Director Scott Turn said his staff set up 45 different appointments with lawmakers, splitting up the Bemidji Day group into several teams to cover more ground.
“It's important for us to come down there. We're not the Bemidji of 20, 30 years ago," he said. “We have a lot of great things happening, but we have a lot of challenges, too.”
Several other groups were lobbying at the Capitol Thursday, including the Minnesota Historical Society and the state’s transportation engineers, and perhaps most adorably, the Animal Humane Society brought in puppies for the annual Puppy Day at the Capitol.
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